Winding apparatus

ABSTRACT

Winding apparatus for concurrently winding a plurality of strands of yarn into separate take-up packages while continually monitoring the tension in each strand and compensating for variations therein to wind the take-up packages to be of substantially equal diameter is disclosed. The apparatus includes a plurality of spaced winding units each adapted to wind an individual strand of yarn into a take-up package. All of the winding units are driven with one common variably controlled motor. Further, each separate winding unit includes a rotatable package support and a separate package pressure roll for engagement with the periphery of an associated take-up package. Means are provided for applying a separate biasing force to each package support to control the pressure under which each said package support engages its associated pressure roll.

United States Patent [191 Bense 41 WINDING APPARATUS [75] Inventor:William Malcolm Bense, Barrington,

[73] Assignee: Leesona Corporation, Warwick, RI.

[22] Filed: Oct. 1, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 402,112

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.259,743, June 5,

1972, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl. 242/35.5 R, 242/45 [51] Int. Cl B65h 54/20, B65h 59/38 [58]Field of Search 242/35.5 R, 45, 18 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,608,355 8/1952 Bell et a1 242/45 3,036,784 5/1962 Schippers etal l l 242/35.5 R 3,350,022 10/1967 Bense 3,672,584 6/1972 Macedo et a1.3,672,589 6/1972 Nakai et al. 242/45 [111 3,830,440 Aug. 20,1974

Primary Examiner Stanley N. Gilreath Attorney, Agent, or FirmAlbert P.Davis; Burnett W. Norton 1 K ABSTRACT Winding apparatus for concurrentlywinding a plurality of strands of yarn into separate take-up packageswhile continually monitoring the tension in each strand and compensatingfor variations therein to wind the take-up packages to be ofsubstantially equal diameter is disclosed. The apparatus includes aplurality of spaced winding units each adapted to wind an individualstrand of yarn into a take-up package. All of the winding units aredriven with one common variably controlled motor. Further, each separatewinding unit includes a rotatable package support and a separate packagepressure roll for engagement with the periphery of an associated take-uppackage. Means are provided for applying a separate biasing force toeach package support to control the pressure under which each saidpackage support engages its associated pressure roll.

10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENIED mszmen sum 10E 2 FIG.1

PATENTEDmszmsn saw 2 or z' FIGZ FIG?) WINDING APPARATUS CROSS-REFERENCETO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part ofcopending US. application Ser. No. 259,743 filed June 1972, nowabandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to strand windingmachines and relates, more particularly, to improved winding apparatusfor winding a plurality of packages of yarn or other strandularmaterial.

In the following specification and claims, the term yarn is employed ina general sense to apply to all kinds of strand material, either textileor otherwise, and the designation package is intended to mean theproduct of a winding machine, whatever its fonn.

Throughout the specification reference is made to first winding unit,second winding unit and similar terminology to indicate elements orstrands in pairs. Although only two winding units are illustrated anddescribed it is to be understood that the invention herein is not to beso limited, the number being adapted solely for convenience and ease ofdescription. Thus, throughout the description, when referring to windingunits, strands and associated elements the terminology first" and secondmay be construed as meaning plurality."

In the manufacture of strands that are being continuously advanced at asubstantially constant rate of speed from a source of supply it iscommon to provide a takeup mechanism to wind up each strand at a rate ofspeed correlated with its rate of advance. An example of such anoperation is winding the output from a synthetic yarn spinning machineor a spinning texturizing combination machine. In such a windingoperation the yarn must be wound at the same speed that it is advancedby the spinning machine or other source of supply. Failure to do sowould result in breaking the yarn if the winders were to operate at ahigher speed than the source of supply. On the other hand, if thewinders are operated at a lower speed than the supply source a slackyarn will result which forms an undesirable and unacceptable yarn tanglebetween the winder and the supply source. Heretofore, it has beencustomary to provide a series of independent take-up units of the typedisclosed, for example, in commonly assigned US. Pat. No. 2,752,105issued June 26, 1956 to John V. Keith. These machines, commonly known inthe trade as takeup units, may be arranged singularly at spaced apartlocations on the floor of the plant adjacent to the spinning machine orother strand supply source. It is readily recognizable that suchdisposition of the take-up units results in uneconomical use of floorspace. Thus, attempts have been made to gang a plurality of take-upunits in order to accomplish savings in floor space and, coincidently,to effect savings in the cost of construction and operation of theganged units. Such attempts have included stacking a pair of take-upunits one on top of the other in vertical disposition, each unit beingdriven by its own motor and controlled by its own tension units. Anotherapproach has been to lengthen the spindle of each take-up unit in orderthat two packages could be wound on a single spindle. In the cases wherethe take-up units have been arranged one on top of the other as justdiscussed, it has heretofore been necessary to develop rather complexthread lines to preclude interference between the strands being wound onthe vertically arranged units. Furthermore, in view of the fact thateach of the vertically arranged units requires its own power source andits own tension compensating unit, there are practically no savings inthe economics of construction of these ganged units. In the case wherethe spindle of each unit has been lengthened to accommodate two packagesthe saving in floor space has been minimal since a take-up unit with alengthened spindle obviously consumes more floor space. Furthermore, inthis later instance the dimensions and weight of the packages wound onthe take-up unit are necessarily restricted due to the fact that inthese take-up units the spindle is supported and driven only at one end.Consequently, the cost savings effected by winding two packages on onespindle are outweighed by the package limitations presented.

The present invention is directed to take-up apparatus wherein aplurality of winding units are arranged in tandem, and desirablyvertically, to be driven by a common drive means while each of the unitswinds up a separate advancing strand or strands. The apparatus includesunique tension regulating means in combination with the common drivemeans wherein the tension in each strand is continually monitored as itadvances to its associated take-up unit. The tension regulating unitincludes a freely pivotable arm for each winding unit, all of the armsbeing mounted on a common compensator shaft and each arm having a rollerabout which the strand or strands running to the winding unit associatedwith the particular arm are engaged. A lug is provided for each arm, theseveral lugs being fixed to the compensator shaft and being situatedsuch that as the arm associated with each lug is raised the arm engagesand bears on its lug. In operation the several arms remain in contactwith their respective lugs by virtue of the fact that the yarn engagedabout the roller on each arm urges the arm into engagement with its lug.In this position they share the total load of a biasing spring urgingthe several arms downwardly. Thus, the arms impart tension to theirassociated strands, the sum of the tension in all of the strands beinggenerally equal to the force of the biasing spring. Now, if a givenpackage begins to wind with a smaller diameter than its companionpackage or packages, the strand advancing to that smaller diameterpackage will begin to lessen its proportionate share of support of thebiasing spring through its respective lug, and in consequence of whichthe load of the biasing spring will be assumed to a greater degree bythe package of greater diameter. In an extreme circumstance wherein thissystem of control could become marginal due to the yarn size or denier,or the tensions realized from various unequal yarn contact points onguides in the two strands were varying to the limits intended to behandled, the strand advancing to the smaller diameter package couldallow its arm to lower to a degree where it would drop away from contactwith its lug. In this condition the tension in the strand would only bebiased by the weight of the arm which would be the minimum tensionpossible in the strand going to the smaller package and the totalbiasing force of the spring would be applied to the larger package.Bearing in mind that the packages, being rotated by a common powersource, are all driven at the same spindle speed, the tension in thestrand advancing to the package of greater diameter rises. Accordingly,the package of greater diameter begins to wind more densely than thepackage of smaller diameter which is having. the strand advanced to itunder comparatively lighter tension. This continues until the heretoforelarger diameter package becomes, in fact, equal in diameter to itscompanion package, due to its being wound more densely.

At this point the proportional tension sharing will antomaticallyreadjust to maintain a status-quo set of conditions to wind bothpackages at a constant rate provided the yarn size or denier remains ata constant value and the variables in the tensions due to guides remainconstant. However, if a new variable occurs such as a small change inyarn size or denier, the tendancy for a change in growth rate will againtake place and a consequent repeat of the sensed compensator arm tensionwill result in a new apportionment of applied tension to the arms withthe tension lowering in the arm associated with the package tending tobuild slower and higher in the arm associated with the package tendingto build faster. The interplay of rate of build and sensing andreadjusting of tension in practice does not take place in step by stepfashion as might be thought of in describing the actions but in facttakes place in minute sont n imssratin dsstsssan s eqia yfli mostundisturbed stable processes, will seek" and maintain a The apparatus iseconomical in construction in that a single source of power is providedfor all the winding units in the apparatus and, further, a commontension control means is provided for controlling the tension in eachsaid strand. Additionally, significant savings in floor space andparticularly height space are achieved with the present invention.

With the foregoing in mind it is one object of the present invention toprovide new and improved winding apparatus capable of windingsimultaneously a plurality of continuously advancing strand of yarn.

Another object of the present invention is to provide winding apparatuswhich includes a plurality of strand winding units driven by a commonsource of power and provided with a' common tension unit for controllingthe tension in each of the plurality of strands during its advance toits respective winding unit.

Still a further-object of the present invention is to provide windingapparatus which is economical to manufacture and simple and reliable inuse.

Another object of the present invention is to provide winding apparatuswhich includes a plurality of winding units, which said apparatus is ofminimum height to fit conveniently under existing strand processingequipment.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the apparatus possessing theconstruction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which areexemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING For a fuller understanding of thenature and objects of the invention reference should be had to thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, schematic front elevational of the windingapparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, enlarged perspective view of mechanism forcontrolling tension in the strands advancing from a supply source to thetakeup units; and

FIG. 3 is a detailed perspective view of a portion of the tensioncontrolling apparatus of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference now to thedrawing and, in the first instance, to FIG. 1, the reference numeral 10designates a mounting pedestal or frame for supporting a pair ofgenerally vertically arranged winding units or take-up units 12 and 14,the winding units 12 and 14 being offset from precise vertical alignmentwith each other, as seen in FIG. 1, so that the threadline to the upperunit 14 runs clear of lower unit 12 by reason of its passing throughguide eye 15. Further, guide eye 15 is so positioned that the fanningangle of the strand passing from guide eye 15 to take-up unit 14 isessentially the same as that of the strand advancing from thecompensator arm (to be described later) to the lower winding unit 12 asthe strands are traversed on their packages. Each of the winding units12 and 14 is of the type known in the art as a precision winder whereinthe number of rotations of the respective spindles l6 and 18 to eachreciprocation of a related strand guide 20 and 22 is fixed relative toeach other from the start of the winding operation until the associatedpackage P or P being wound thereby is completed. Each winding spindle 16and 18 is rotatably journaled at one of its ends in suitable bearings(not illustrated) which are seated in the upper end of a respectivespindle carrying frame 24, 26. In turn, each frame 24, 26 is pivotablymounted adjacent its lower end to an associated base 28, 30 by means ofa respective stub shaft 32, 34. By this construction each of thespindles 16 and 18 are permitted to swing toward and away from itsassociated strand guide 20, 22 as the winding cycle progresses. Each ofthe strand guides 20, 22 is reciprocated by known means such as anassociated barrel cam (not shown). Thus, the barrel cam which operatesguide 20 is rotatably joumaled interiorly of a housing 36 fixed by meansof an upstanding support 38 to a horizontal platform 40 which, in turn,is fixed on frame 10. Similarly, the barrel cam which operates guide 22is journaled for rotation in suitable bearings within a housing 42. Inturn, housing 42 is mounted at the upper end of a support 44. Support 44is fixed on a horizontal platform 46 extending from frame 10. As isreadily apparent in FIG.

I 1, each of the spaced platforms 40 and 46 also provides a support fora respective one of the bases 28 and 30. The platforms are sufficientlylong so that winding unit 14 can be offset rightwardly from the verticalrelative to winding unit 12 as seen in FIG. 1. In this manner traversalof the strand extending from the region below winding unit 12 to windingunit 14 proceeds unhampered by interference with unit 12, all by virtueof this offset coupled with the strand being guided through guide 15.

Viewing FIG. 1 it will be seen that a roller bail 48 is mounted forrotation in suitable bearings 50 at the upper end of housing 36 and in aposition to engage peripherally with package P during winding of thatpackage. Likewise, a roller bail 52 is mounted in bearings 54 in theupper portion of housing 42 whereby said bail 52 may engage peripherallywith the package P supported on spindle 18. Roll bails 48 and 52 areelongated to span the full width of the associated packages P and P,thereby providing a pressure surface against which said packages areurged under controlled pressure during winding thereof. Such controlledpressure may be provided by means including an array of springs 56, 58,for each unit in the manner as fully explained in copending, commonlyassigned US. Pat. No. 3,672,584 issued June 27, I972.

Common drive means for each of the spindles 16 and 18 and each of thestrand guides 20 and 22 is provided by an electric motor which ismounted on lower platform 40 as illustrated in FIG. 1. Motor 70 has adrive shaft 72 to which a timing pulley 74 is fastened. A timing belt 76is engaged on timing pulley 74 and is also engaged on a further timingdrive pulley 78 fastened on a stub shaft 80 which is mounted forrotation in a bearing block 86. In turn, bearing block 86 is secured tolower platform 40. A timing belt 88 encircles a first timing pulley 90secured on shaft 80 and said belt 88 also passes around a timing pulley92 carried on stub shaft 32 for rotation. As previously noted, stubshaft 32 is mounted in a seat within frame 24 and base 28. A timing belt96 passes around second rotatable timing pulley 98 mounted on shaft 32integral with pulley 92 and belt 96 also passes around a further timingpulley 100 which is secured fast on spindle 16. Consequently, as motor70 is energized spindle 16 is rotated through the power train justdescribed. Coincidently therewith yarn guide 20 is caused to reciprocatevia motive force produced as a further timing belt 102 is driven from atiming pulley 103 mounted on the opposite end of motor drive shaft 72from pulley 74. Belt 102 also engages around a timing pulley 104 whichis connected via a shaft 106 with the afore-mentioned barrel cam formotivating yarn guide 20.

Ganged on stub shaft 80 with the previously mentioned pulleys is afurther timing pulley 108 which serves to engage and drive a timing belt110. A stepped timing pulley 112 is rotatably mounted on a shaft 115which, in turn, is mounted in a plate 116 secured in verticalorientation on the side of platform 46. A timing belt 117 passes aroundpulley 1'14, mounted on shaft 115, and is engaged with another steppedtiming pulley 118 rotatably mounted on a stub shaft 120 secured in theupper region of plate 116. A timing belt 122 leads around pulley 119 andalso passes around pulley 124- supported for rotation on shaft 34affixed to frame 26 and base 30. A further timing belt 128 engages withtiming pulley 127 and with a timing pulley 130 on one end of spindle 18.Additionally, a timing belt 132 is connected between timing pulley 133and a timing pulley 134. In turn, pulley 134 is secured to the end of ashaft 136 which is joined with the afore-mentioned barrel cam foroperating strand guide 22. Accordingly, as a further incident of theoperation of motor 70 spindle 18 is rotated and strand guide 22 isdriven by the power train just described and is also operatedsimultaneously and in unison with the operation of unit 12 as describedearlier.

Referring now to FIG. 2 the winding apparatus of the present inventionincludes structure for controlling the tension in each of the supplystrands S and S as they are advanced from their source to the take-upunits. Such structure includes a tension compensating arrangement of thegeneral type, for example, described in commonly assigned US. Pat. No.2,752,105 which operates to wind up a strand at a constant or graduallydecreasing tension as the take-up package increases in diameter andwhich is further operable to continuously sense the tension in theadvancing strand and, as a result of such sensing, to control the speedat which the strand is wound. The patented apparatus includes theprovision of a shaft 140 which is rotatably journaled in a plate 142secured to frame 10 of the winding apparatus. The patented structure ismodified herein to the extent that a pair of compensator arms 144, 146are loosely mounted to be freely pivotable on shaft 140 through means ofrespective bearing blocks 148, 150. A spring 151 is provided which isfastened to shaft 140 in a manner to impart a torsional force in shaft140 to urge arms 144, 146 counterclockwise (FIG. 2) to impart a desiredtension in strands S and S The outer end of each arm 144, 146 carries arotatable strand roller 152, 154, respectively. Each of the arms 144,146 is operable to transmit its rocking motion to shaft 140 through anassociated clamp 156, 158, as best shown in FIG. 3, the pair of clampsbeing secured fast on shaft 140 and each having a lug 160, 162integrally formed therewith. The lugs 160, 162 extend tangentially fromshaft 140 in a common plane. Each of the bearing blocks 148, hasprojections 164, 166 integrally fabricated therewith, the projectionsextending in a plane to'engage with the associated one of the lugs 160,162 when the bearing block and compensator arm with which the pin isassociated is rocked or elevated clockwise as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 3.Excessive rocking motion of the arms 144, 146 is precluded by a stop 170mounted on plate 142 and situated to engage and thus prevent the armsfrom swinging more than about forty degrees above or below thehorizontal.

As is fully explained in the prior cited patent, shaft 140 is connectedwith mechanism for altering the speed of motor 70 in response to packagegrowth and to tension variations in the advancing strands. With regardto package growth, the spindle speed of each winding unit 12 and 14 isreduced progressively to cause succeeding layers of strands S and S,respectively, in each package to be wound with either constant orprogressively less tension. The progressively less tension mode ofwinding is accomplished through linkage, a portion of which is shown at172, connected to lower winding unit 12 and operating to control motor70which operates both units 12 and 14. Thus, winding unit 14 is a slavewhich is slowed concurrently with winding unit 12 due to overall packagegrowth.

In operation a pair of strands S and S of substantially equal denier arecontinuously advanced from a source of supply above strand rollers 152,154. Each strand S and S is looped downwardly around its respective roll152 or 154, then upwardly to be threaded through an associated guide 20or 22, then onto a core C or C secured on the appropriate spindle 16 or18. As previously discussed, strand S is also guided through guide eye15. The apparatus is activated through energization of motor 70 inconsequence of which the strands are traversed onto cores C and C toform packages P and P. Electric mechanisms not herein illustrated areset to cause spindles 16 and 18 to initially wind up the strands at arate which will cause compensator arms 144 and 146 to assume anessentially horizontal attitude. Thus, coincident downward dispositionof compensator arms 144 and 146 will cause spindles l6 and 18 to speedup synchronously and thereby wind strands S and S at a rate faster thanthe preset winding rate programmed into the control mechanism when thearms are in their horizontal positions. Similarly, coincident upwarddisposition of arms 144 and 146 will cause the spindles to slow downsynchronously and thereby wind strands S and S at a slower rate thanthat obtained when the arms are horizontally disposed.

Now, let it be assumed that spring 151 is set to impart a total load of,say 60 grams tension into the strands being wound and, further, let itbe assumed that there are two strands being taken up, one strand on unit12 and the other on unit 14. Further, let it be assumed that theconditions are such that the strand S and S, in engagement with theirrespective rollers 152 and 154, follow similar threadlines and share thetension load from spring 151 equally so that, in fact, for presentpurposes it can be assumed that each strand has thirty grams tensionintroduced to it by its engagement with its respective roller. Thus,during this phase of operation the compensator arms maintain theiressentially horizontal attitudes and the strands continue to advance totheir respective take-up units 12 and 14, each presumed to be under 30grams tension.

lf denier and tension additions realized from strands passing throughvarious guides remain equal and strand feed remains constant the sharedload of spring 151 on strands S and S would remain constant. However, ina normal winding cycle variables are introduced as, for example, whenthe denier of one strand varies even slightly, say in the order of onepercent, from the other. Such a denier difference might occur by amissing filament in one of the strands. While this condition might bepermissible insofar as the quality of the strand is concerned, theresult in winding will be that the strand of lesser denier will resultin the winding of a package of smaller diameter. Likewise, presuming thedenier of the two strands remained exactly alike, but one strand passedthrough a guide with more bend than the other resulting in highertension while being directed to the takeup from the source or process,the result in winding will be that the strand with this higher tensionwill re suit in the winding of a package of smaller diameter. inoperation with the-present invention, assoon as the package to which thelighter denier strand or the higher tension strand is advanced begins towind smaller in diameter, the compensator arm around which the lighterdenier yarn is engaged begins to lessen its share of the total biasingspring load while the lessened load share is automatically transposed tothe arm and strand associated with the larger diameter package. Thisoccurs, obviously, by reason of the total tensions in the two strandshaving to always be a numerical force sum equal to the force of thesingle biasing spring. ln general, the force is gradually removed due toan infinitesimally small reduction in tension in the strand which isbeing wound on the smaller diameter package and the compensator arm doesnot necessarily fall away from contact with its lug 160 or 162. Rather,the minute release in tension on the compensator arm causes aproportional shift in the load sharing distribution of the two strandsrelative to spring 151. That is to say, where in the cited example, thetwo strands S and S were deemed to be sharing the sixty gram load ofspring 151 equally, the tendency of one arm to shift minutely away fromengagement with its lug may result in, say, the arm which is tending tolower taking only grams of the spring load while the other strand mustthen assume the remaining 45 grams of the load. The reduction of thetension in the one strand will cause the smaller diameter package togrow at a faster rate due to its being wound less densely and,concurrently, the heavier tension on the strand delivering to the largerpackage will cause it to increase in diameter at a slower rate than whenthe tension load was shared equally by the strands. This condition willcontinue until a state of equilibrium is attained again where the twostrands may share the tension load of spring 151 equally, or may remainout of equilibrium throughout the winding in the event that deniersremain slightly unequal or tensions applied by guides directing the yarnfrom source or process remain slightly. unequal, and such equal orunequal conditions will be achieved when the diameters of the twopackages are equal. Thereafter, the above described cycle will berepeated as conditions between the two strands vary so that as finalproducts of the winding cycle a pair of packages are produced which areof substantially the same diameter and, while each package may vary indensity at portions therein, nevertheless package are produced which arestructured well within commercially acceptable limits.

In extreme conditions wherein the denier variation or the tensionvariation resulting from dissimilar guide arrangements, not shown,directing the yarn from process to the takeups are excessive, the strandbeing wound on the smaller package could reduce in tension to the pointwhere the arm could lower out of contact with its respective lug or 162.Under this extreme condition and wherein the aforementioned sixty gramload of spring 151 were used as an example, the result would be thebiasing of the full sixty grams to the arm associated with the largerdiameter package and no spring biasing to the arm associated with thesmaller diameter package and the only tension remaining in the smallerdiameter package strand would result from the weight of the arm alone.If the resulting maximum differences in tension as described in theseaforementioned extreme conditions do not correct the non equal buildingof the two packages and the arm which has lost contact with itsassociated lug does not recontact the lug by reason of equalizing thebuilding of the packages, but in fact, continues to lower progressivelyaway from the lug, it is an indication that the degree of variations indenier and guide applied tensions are excessive and, in practice, wouldresult in unacceptable product quaiity.

' each strand advancing to its respective winding unit.

While the present invention is shown and described herein as embodied ina preferred form of construction, it is to be understood thatmodifications may be made in the structure and arrangement of theelements thereof without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. Winding apparatus comprising, a first winding unit arranged to wind afirst advancing strand into a first package, a second winding unitdisplaced from alignment with said first winding unit and arranged towind a second advancing strand into a second package, a separatepressure roll for engagement with the periphery of each said package,separate means for urging each said pressure roll against its associatedpackage under controlled pressure throughout the winding of each saidpackage, common drive means for operating said first and second windingunits simultaneously for concurrent winding of said first and secondstrands, means for imparting a predetermined total tension into theaggregate of said first and second strands including means for sensingthe tension in each of said first and second strands during advance ofthe strands to their respective packages and for varying the tensionimparted to each said strand by said tension imparting means in responseto variations in the relative increases in size of said first and secondpackages, whereby the predetermined total tension inparted into theaggregate of the first and second strands is maintained.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim I wherein said ten sion sensing meansincludes first and second independently movable members for engagingrespectively said first and second strands.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said tension impartingmeans includes biasing means operable to urge each of said first andsecond members into engagement with its respective strand.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim ll wherein said first and secondwinding units are positioned at fixed loci, said first winding unitbeing disposed in vertical and horizontal planes offset from said secondwinding unit.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including common control means forregulating said drive means.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first winding unit isdisposed in vertical and horizontal planes offset from said secondwinding unit.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said independently movablemembers are mounted on a common shaft for rocking movement thereon.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein said tension impartingmeans includes biasing means connected with said shaft and operable torock said shaft in a direction to urge said movable members intoengagement with their associated strands.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8 including lug means mounted on saidshaft and engageable with said members.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 including guide means for guidingthe strand advancing to the uppermost of said first and second units ina path remote from the lowermost of said units.

1. Winding apparatus comprising, a first winding unit arranged to wind afirst advancing strand into a first package, a second winding unitdisplaced from alignment with said first winding unit and arranged towind a second advancing strand into a second package, a separatepressure roll for engagement with the periphery of each said package,separate means for urging each said pressure roll against its associatedpackage under controlled pressure throughout the winding of each saidpackage, common drive means for operating said first and second windingunits simultaneously for concurrent winding of said first and secondstrands, means for imparting a predetermined total tension into theaggregate of said first and second strands including means for sensingthe tension in each of said first and second strands during advance ofthe strands to their respective packages and for varying the tensionimparted to each said strand by said tension imparting means in responseto variations in the relative increases in size of said first and secondpackages, whereby the predetermined total tension inparted into theaggregate of the first and second strands is maintained.
 2. Apparatus asset forth in claim 1 wherein said tension sensing means includes firstand second independently movable members for engaging respectively saidfirst and second strands.
 3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 whereinsaid tension imparting means includes biasing means operable to urgeeach of said first and second members into engagement with itsrespective strand.
 4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidfirst and second winding units are positioned at fixed loci, said firstwinding unit being disposed in vertical and horizontal planes offsetfrom said second winding unit.
 5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1including common control means for regulating said drive means. 6.Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first winding unit isdisposed in vertical and horizontal planes offset from said secondwinding unit.
 7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein saidindependently movable members are mounted on a common shaft for rockingmovement thereon.
 8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein saidtension imparting means includes biasing means connected with said shaftand operable to rock said shaft in a direction to urge said movablemembers into engagement with their associated strAnds.
 9. Apparatus asset forth in claim 8 including lug means mounted on said shaft andengageable with said members.
 10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6including guide means for guiding the strand advancing to the uppermostof said first and second units in a path remote from the lowermost ofsaid units.